


I Will Bring You Home

by Bloodspit



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M, SHEITH - Freeform, keithon, other ships mentioned in passing but not given enough attention to merit tagging them
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-16
Updated: 2018-01-21
Packaged: 2019-01-18 04:54:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12381327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bloodspit/pseuds/Bloodspit
Summary: After Shiro's disappearance, Keith begins to dream of Shiro.  The dreams get worse when he awakens the black lion.  Finally, he manages to locate and rescue Shiro, yet his dreams persist, taking a turn for the worse.How long can Keith keep his suffering a secret?  What is the reason for the dreams, and will he be able to stop having them?





	1. Impetus

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place after S2 finale, and spans timeline of events through and beyond S4. There will likely be multiple spoilers for episodes through S4 ~ please read at your own discretion. Thank you!

Keith's footsteps echoed harshly through the empty hallway as he hastened his sprint, his wild panting the only other noise that pierced the quiet dread permeating the castle. 

_Shiro - !_ he pleaded silently, his boots squeaking in protest as he skidded to a halt before the black lion. The massive robot loomed over him with eerie lifelessness. 

"Shiro -" Keith repeated aloud, choking slightly around the second vowel. As he approached the motionless lion, its maw opened before him obediently to reveal-

Nothing.

Keith's eyes darted about the abandoned cabin desperately, searching for any sign of their leader. The sounds of the other paladins arriving behind him and the various vocalizations of the team realizing what he was actively attempting to deny fizzed like white noise in Keith's periphery, heard but not acknowledged. His mind raced, trying to supply any sort of explanation, but the questions came more quickly than the rate at which he could possibly hope to address them. 

_Where...how?? Why?_ Keith cautiously entered the cabin, panting heavily with panic now rather than exertion, eyes wide with terror. He gripped the back of the pilot's seat so hard that his knuckles strained against the taut, pale skin of his hand, threatening to split it open. Keith whipped his head around at the shuffling of boots entering the lion behind him as the team followed him curiously into the cramped space, staring at the empty seat in confusion. Keith turned back to the control console, spotting the black bayard that remained in its slot and finally admitting that Shiro was somehow gone. 

_You can't be..._ he chastised his missing leader mentally, smacking his hands down on the console in frustration. He threw his head back and screamed.

"No!" he howled as his voice cracked in lamentation, startling the group around him. He stood with his head hung between his tense shoulders, hands shakily holding him up above the powerless console, breathing erratic and hot. Someone put a hand on his shoulder gingerly, causing Keith to flinch and the hand to hesitate momentarily before resuming its attempt at comfort. Keith registered that Pidge was saying something to him, leaning worriedly into his line of sight, but he couldn't hear her over the sound of his own pulse thumping against his skull, couldn't see her through the tunnel vision clouding his sight, or maybe they were tears. He couldn't tell and didn't want to pay close enough attention to find out. 

Keith felt as though his blood was boiling beneath his skin, as though every nerve was raw and abused and completely exposed. And just as quickly as this brief over-stimulation hit him, it washed away completely and left him feeling empty and numb. 

"We'll figure it out, Keith. We'll find him." Pidge was still plastering him with ministrations and promises of hope when he suddenly snapped out of his stupor, shrugging off her hand and hurriedly making his way out of and away from the lion. He ignored the anxious pleas from the teammates he left behind, not wanting to spend another second ensconced in their useless pity any longer. 

\--

Keith walked mindlessly and without any specific destination, but unsurprisingly and with a sinking feeling in his gut found himself before the door to Shiro's quarters. He sniffed and let out a low, shaky breath before entering the dark room.

 _Could be clues inside_ , he explained inwardly, denying it as the excuse that it was. The lights flickered to life as Keith looked around slowly, taking in the bare cabin with apprehension. Though they had all left Earth with nothing more than the clothes on their backs, most of the paladins had seemed to accrue a collection of valuables during their time in the castle. Lance had amassed a stunningly large amount of beauty products and lounge-wear. Hunk had a steadily growing pantry of strange and exotic spices and ingredients, as well as an impressive collection of Altean textbooks that Pidge was helping him translate. As for Pidge...there wasn't a single corner of her room that wasn't jam packed with some kind of technology she had either found, modified, or created from scratch. 

However, Keith's room remained bare and impersonal, a by-product of his tendency to take and keep only necessary belongings per Garrison recommendation. What he held as important, he kept with him at all times. 

He found Shiro's room to be quite comparable in that respect, likely a result of their similar military mindset, but also probably somewhat due to Shiro's imprisonment at the hands of the Galra. During this time, he had nothing to call his own but a tattered shirt and an old jumpsuit, and no certainty of living to see another day. Keith realized that even the passage of time was uncertain during Shiro's captivity, since he could not tell the Garrison how long he'd been MIA after he had returned to Earth. 

Keith didn't know what he had expected, or perhaps what he had hoped for when he entered Shiro's room, but the emptiness of the space was more hurtful than it should have been. It felt like a slap to the face. With a room like this, it was almost as though Shiro was never there to begin with. That thought caused a painful shudder to run through Keith's body and that struck him down to his bones. He gasped with the force of it, clutching at his chest and noticing that he was still clad in his paladin armor. For a reason that Keith could not explain, he felt a sudden rage overcome him at that realization. He grappled with his armor, tearing the pieces from his body and letting them clatter unceremoniously to the ground. When he was done and wearing only the black jumpsuit, he stepped out from the center of the pile he'd created and kicked the armor furiously against the closest wall, huffing spitefully.

Keith stood in place and closed his eyes, willing his anxiety to subside. _Patience yields focus..._ After a few minutes, his breathing had returned to normal, but the annoyance that had overcome him earlier still prickled beneath the surface. He growled in irritation and stalked over to the neatly made bunk to sit, letting himself sink into it tiredly. It had been a long day and it was just catching up to him - the preparation and the battle, and the roller coaster of emotions that had followed Shiro's disappearance...it was just now taking its toll on him. He cradled his aching head in his hands and exhaled slowly. 

"I will find you," he muttered. "I won't stop looking until I do. And when I do find you..." he breathed out through his nose, summoning the promise he knew he would keep or die trying. "I will bring you home."

\--

Keith was running down that hallway, the dread seeping into his veins like poison. The hallway seemed to stretch on forever, no matter how fast or for how long he ran. The corridorr felt like a hall of mirrors, stretching out into infinity before as well as behind him. He felt the walls and ceilings grow taller and farther away, as though he were shrinking like Alice in Wonderland. Suddenly, gravity shifted and he was falling towards that far-away ceiling, falling for much longer than that distance would call for. He felt a sick weightlessness bubble up in his stomach as he continued to tumble through the air, and tried desperately to right himself in his descent. He finally noticed that he wasn't falling towards the ceiling at all, but down that corridor along which he had been running. All the effort he had expended in running, all of the progress he had made was so swiftly undone as he fell backwards, or downwards. Direction was not clear - he was so disoriented, nothing seemed to make sense and everything looked like a loop of what he had already passed. Finally, something unseen seemed to slow him down, like a bungee cord stretching out and saving him from a fatal landing just in the knick of time. 

However, when he looked over his shoulder, he did not see a wall or door or anything that he could have impacted. Instead, he just saw nothingness, a dark abyss stretching out forever and swallowing up the corridor around him. He maneuvered himself as though he were bobbing in water, turning to face the abyss head on. He reached out a hand, but there was nothing. Just a cold sensation emanating from the darkness. Not altogether uninviting, just foreign and strange. A chill ran up Keith's spine. 

He looked back up the infinite hallway one last time, then mentally tugged on the bungee to let him enter the void.  
Keith plunged head first into the cool nothingness, searching for what had brought him here. He tried to call out, but it was almost like being underwater - his voice died out even as he spoke, garbled and barely audible even to his own ears. He slowly made his way through the void, not walking nor swimming, though he felt a drag against his body similar to what moving through water feels like ...yet, he was somehow floating through it just by mentally willing himself to. 

Once more he called out, willing it to be clearer, and he heard his voice land flat among the pitch blackness.  
"Hello?" he half said, half thought. He listened intently, and was surprised to get an answer. A clear voice calling back, sounding so far away yet unmistakable in identity.

"Keith?" Shiro responded softly, unsure.

"Shiro!" Keith cried out in relief, waving his arms out before him, trying to reach out and touch anything. He felt the plasmic drag around his arms, but nothing solid. "I'm here! Where are you? Follow the sound of my voice!" Keith barked out, choking back tears. 

A pause, and then Shiro's response: "...I can't," he called back in resignation, again sounding far off, as though from across a field.

"What?" Keith responded, his chest aching with worry. "Why not? Are you okay?" He struggled to move more quickly towards the general direction of Shiro's voice.

"I don't know...I can't move," he responded, attempting to be calm like the leader he always felt he had to be, but underlined with a subtle fear that took Keith years to be able to recognize. Keith's stomach rolled with anxiety. 

"Just stay put, I'm coming to find you!" Keith replied, hoping he had sounded reassuring. 

"I don't think you can...reach..m" Shiro's voice tapered off into silence mid-sentence.

"Shiro??" Keith breathed out, waiting with bated breath for a response. None came.

"SHIRO!?" Keith screamed, and suddenly that incorporeal bungee around his waist yanked him away from the abyss, pulling him back into and down the hallway so quickly, he had to close his eyes to keep from getting sick. 

\--

Keith fell flat against the mattress, knocking the air out of his lungs roughly. He laid there, disoriented, sweating, and breathing raggedly. He brought a shaking hand to his head and closed his eyes, trying to figure out what had happened. He felt a warm presence prodding at the edges of his consciousness worriedly, but he pushed it away. However the presence persisted, and he finally recognized it as Red, communicating to him through the ethereal bond they had formed. He let her presence surround him and he exhaled, sitting up slowly.

 _Sorry Red, I didn't realize it was you,_ he apologized mentally. Red responded with a thrumming sensation, forgiving his transgression and expressing relief that he was okay. He felt a soft tug near his waist, and was reminded of the experience he'd just had. _Was it a dream, then?_ he pondered, and Red communicated a vague yes-but-no sensation. _Well that clears things up, thanks,_ Keith thought with a sardonic huff. It was difficult to communicate concrete ideas over their bond since mostly they could only share emotions or brief visions. Red repeated the not-really-a-dream vibe, seeming to tug on their bond once again. 

_So it was you, in my dream- or i guess, not dream... you pulled me back out?_ He asked. A resounding confirmation flooded his mind, but he was still confused. 

_Why did you pull me back? I was going to find Shiro,_ he demanded, fuming. Suddenly, he was filled with a sense of trepidation. A single word spoken with an alien lilt echoed within his mind.

 _... d a n g e r ...._  
\--


	2. Tumult

For days after Shiro's disappearance, tension hung over the ship, blanketing it in an uneasy hush. Keith had made himself unapproachable, oscillating between solemn isolation in his room and a fierce desperation as he combed through logs and scanned the entire quadrant for Shiro's whereabouts. Days turned to weeks, and the team continued to give their best in the missions that ensued, not letting the disappearance of their leader become known lest the enemy gain awareness of the advantage they held. It was an unspoken fear shared within the paladins and their Altean comrades that the enemy was already aware - that Shiro was, in fact, their prisoner once again. However, time continued to pass in relative silence, so they could not be sure.

This lack of confrontation was worse for Keith, who could not be sure where to even start with his search. Each day that passed with fruitless endeavors inched him further and further towards his breaking point. It was unfortunate that he finally reached that breaking point during an integral meeting to draft additional forces into the fight against Zarkon and the Galra empire. All of the pressure to succeed without being able to form Voltron, all of his futile searching, his refusal to give up hope - it all culminated into the frustration that he released at that most inopportune time. Keith couldn't stand being surrounded by people he didn't know or care about while Shiro was out there somewhere, stranded or trapped, suffering alone. His heart thudded painfully and he left the conference room in a state of panic as the news that Voltron could not be formed rippled throughout the gathering and, consequently, the universe.

 

\------

 

A smoky trail of debris struck a bold line diagonally across the orange desert sky, striking the horizon not far from where Keith sat atop his idling speed cruiser. Stowing his binoculars, Keith pulled his goggles and bandana onto his face, adjusted the cuffs of his driving gloves, and took off for the crash site. As he neared the Garrison's privacy tents, he pulled the remote detonator from his waist band and popped the button casing open like a box of tic-tacs. He measured his distance from the tent with the surrounding landscape as it whipped past him, counting down the seconds until his cruiser should be noticed and readying the device in his hand.

 _3...2...1...Now!_ He clicked the remote detonator - silence... and his heart skipped a beat. But then he was relieved to hear two separate explosions a few miles off from his target. He knew this would be the perfect distraction, giving him precisely enough time to infiltrate the site and rescue his companion.

The orange sky that had glowed menacingly above him only moments before had quickly transformed into night, twinkling with stars and cosmic dust. That would aid his escape even more, and Keith wondered why he hadn't waited until night to start his operation in the first place. _A miscalculation, but I guess it's fine,_ he shrugged, satisfied that his oversight hadn't been a costly one. 

It was a simple task to sneak into the safe-guarded site since all of the security team had gone to investigate the nearby explosions. But strangely enough, the whole area appeared to be completely abandoned. _There should at least be some investigative staff here,_ Keith bit his lip as he cogitated on this oddity. _It could be a trap, but I don't have time to be overly cautious._ He slunk quickly through the area, locating the section of the tent that he had been searching for and tearing his way into the room, his knife at the ready. 

But he wouldn't need his knife, since the place was completely unoccupied. Keith's gaze darted about, taking stock of the various medical equipment and falling on the large, metal operating table before him. It was vacant, but the strap that was used to hold in occupants had been sliced cleanly through, the one sign of life in the sterile surroundings. He crept forwards and rested a hand on the table, expecting the cool bite of undisturbed metal but sensing a lingering warmth instead. He was here recently _...Shiro!_ Keith gripped the hilt of his knife tightly, thoughts racing about what he should do next. _Should I leave now to perform more reconnaissance, and risk losing his trail completely? Or do I search the site more thoroughly and risk being trapped in when the Garrison return?_ Either way, he couldn't afford to waste more time in the medical tent, and so turned back to the maze of interconnecting tubes and tents and hoped that a decision would come to him at the right time.

However, in retracing the steps he'd taken to get to that room, Keith realized that he must have misremembered or gone the wrong direction. Rather than turning the corner and arriving at what should have been the exit, he was back in that medical room, the devices surrounding him with purposeless beeping and whirring. He stopped dead in his tracks, mind blanking momentarily and tasting the metallic tang of thirst. The only option was to turn around, but when he did, there was no doorway....only a vast expanse of absolute darkness. Even the glow of the buzzing overhead lights seemed to strike an invisible wall and ceased to illuminate anything beyond it.

Something about this darkness felt strangely familiar, and Keith wracked his brain, attempting to locate the source of the deja vu within his foggy memory. He slowly stepped towards the darkness, his boots crunching against the desert floor, and reached out tentatively towards the obsidian void. Upon contact, he simultaneously felt a coolness wash over him from the vacuum, as well as an insistent tugging from within his chest, pulling him backwards with an unspoken warning.

Keith didn't know how he knew, but he was sure that Shiro would be in there, waiting for him. He took a step into the abyss, ignoring the nagging pinch in his chest, and plunged himself into the chilling cold of the unknown. 

-

The darkness descended upon him the instant he stepped forward and the memory of his last time here came rushing back. When he turned around, he did not see the medical tent he had left behind, rather he was now completely surrounded by the infinite stretch of nothingness. When he looked down, he couldn't tell what surface he was even standing on, or if there even was one. However, the nothingness was anything but empty - the air felt thicker than fog and pressed down on him densely, but not with moisture. It was filled with some other substance that left a cloying, suffocating heaviness upon his skin and in his mouth. Keith couldn't begin to describe it, to compare it to any sensation he had felt before. It was completely foreign and bizarre, and yet strikingly familiar. However, he didn't have time to spend on curiosity - he had come here with a purpose.

"Shiro!" Keith called out, slogging onward. Even though the space around him felt infinite, his voice came back at him as though he was in a room no larger than a closet. When he reached out his arms, they struck no surface as they sluiced desperately through the density that surrounded him. 

"Shiro, can you hear me?" Keith yelled again after not getting an answer, continuing his forward trek. Again, no response - Keith began to run. "Shiro?!" he cried, his composure faltering as his pace increased to a sprint. 

"...eith?" He heard the gasping whisper as though through a bad telephone connection.

"Shiro!" Keith exhaled, adjusting his trajectory to head towards the response he'd received. "Just hang on, I'm coming!" Keith panted, running as quickly as was possible through the dragging resistance around him. 

"..on't come here, please....Keith don't!" Shiro whispered frantically. "Don't - !" he broke off into a fit of wet coughs, which faded into silence.  
"Shiro, just hold on, I'm on my way!" Keith responded, disobeying Shiro's request. 

Suddenly, Keith felt that sharp, incorporeal tug at his body. He knew it was Red, warning him, wanting to pull him back. But he wouldn't let her stop him this time. The tug came sharper this time, causing him to stumble a bit. It slowed his sprint to a jog, pulling at him increasingly harder in a stubborn tug-of-war, and he could feel the point at which it connected with him ache with worry. 

"Let me GO!" he gasped in exasperation. Keith grappled at the connection, grasping onto the taut line, and delivered a swift yank. With a punch of sadness in his gut, he felt the line go slack and silent. He turned back towards Shiro and resumed his sprint.

Without warning, he struck an invisible wall. Instead of stopping him in his tracks painfully, his forward momentum carried him partially through the wall, like diving into a pool of gelatin. The shock of it knocked the air out of him, and he struggled to inhale the jelly air that surrounded him. He choked and coughed, hacking on the substance as it entered his lungs and clung to his insides. Keith tried to call out to Shiro, but could only gargle helplessly. His lungs burned with the presence of this foreign substance, but somehow he was still able to breathe, albeit painfully so. His arms reached out and clawed at the thickness surrounding him, which simply returned to its suspended state after he displaced it. Keith sloshed onward, fighting his body's instinct to vomit. He tore through the stuff around him, and eventually, his arm broke through a membrane and into a place free from the dragging sensation around him. 

Keith pushed on through until his face was exposed, cough and gasping, his body still suspended within the goo. He didn't have the energy just yet to finish breaking free from its barrier. He felt himself cough up something similar to phlegm, but nothing visible came out. 

"Shiro," he croaked out weakly, his abused throat not capable of creating more volume. Keith looked around at the strange new atmosphere that surrounded him, scanning the barren horizon for any sign of life...for any sign of Shiro. A purple haze hung in the air, illuminating the landscape ominously. Keith squinted, and spotted something in the distance, obscured by a shimmering mirage effect. He focused intently, and made out the shape of a person lying slumped on the ground. _Shiro --!_ Keith thought with sudden clarity and he felt a surge of adrenaline rush through his veins.

Before he could even utilize this influx of energy, the lifeline about his waist suddenly pulled taut and without being allowed to protest, he was drawn out backwards through the choking goo. He growled and screamed, resisting Red's force and flailing his limbs about, trying to find anything to hold onto. But he found no such foothold, and either way, was no match in his weakened state. The line was pulling him backwards so powerfully that it seized him painfully and his muscles went stiff with resistance. 

He woke in his bed with a start, covered in sweat and coughing. Once he realized where he was, he began to sob and howl angrily, punching his wall and throwing things about the room. If anyone heard him, no one said anything. Red's presence reached out to him tentatively and he swatted her away bitterly. She recoiled, and Keith could feel the sadness and the worry emanating from her, trying to explain her actions.  
"Get out of my head!" he spat, throwing himself on his bed and willing his breathing to return to normal. He felt her retreat from him, and he closed his eyes against his wet pillow, memorizing all that he could about what he'd just experienced. _'Shiro...I am coming for you. Please hold on,'_ he vowed. When sleep wouldn't come to him, he resigned himself to being awake and headed towards the training deck.

 

\----

 

Allura could not allow Keith's personal mission to affect the team any longer. She called an emergency meeting to bring to light a topic that left a bitter taste in her mouth but that could not be avoided: who would be the new black paladin and lead Voltron? Before they knew it, everyone was standing before the Black Lion, preparing to present themselves as the next head of Voltron. When all had failed and it was only Keith who was left, he reluctantly stepped into the cockpit and took a seat, sighing.

"I know you wanted this for me, Shiro. But I'm not you. I can't lead them like you." Keith lamented, feeling a strange presence surround him, as though it were inspecting him.

 _'Please...I'm begging you. Please don't make me do this...'_ Keith pleaded with the Black Lion mentally, beads of tears clinging to his lashes stubbornly. _'If I become the Black Paladin...then it means that you have also given up on Shiro. I can't be the only one that still believes he's out there, that hes's worth saving. I can't be - please!'_

He reached out and grasped the controls, hoping...

The Black Lion's eyes glowed with life, and it released a deafening roar. His teammates standing outside cheered jubilantly, but Keith simply gasped and uttered a sorrowful, "Please, no..."


End file.
